Thanksgiving traffic to increase

Traffic steers around an ongoing construction project along Red Hills Parkway in St. George on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. A sales tax increase is proposed on Washington County residents' election ballots this year to help fund transportation projects and maintenance.(Photo: David DeMille/The Spectrum & Daily News)Buy Photo

An estimated 3.5 million people in the mountain west are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday week, and public safety officials are urging motorists to be patient.

Forecasters say this should be the busiest travel holiday since 2007, with motorists encouraged to move by low gas prices and relatively high confidence in the economy, said Rolayne Fairclough, the regional spokesperson for AAA auto club.

It's the ninth consecutive year AAA has expected an increase in Thanksgiving traffic.

“This ongoing travel trend is spurred by improvements in the economy, increased consumer spending, and overall strength in consumer confidence,” Fairclough said. “Mountain West residents are eager to travel and turn this four-day weekend into the most traveled holiday in the past nine years.”

Nationally, AAA forecasts that more than 48 million people will travel 50 miles or more during the four-day weekend, a 1.9 percent increase compared to last year’s travel statistics.
Ongoing construction could cause some delays along Interstate 15 in St. George, where crews are finishing work on the addition of new lanes and a bridge near Mall Drive.

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Traffic negotiates a damaged section of Telegraph Street in Washington City while utility crews place new power poles Tuesday afternoon. The hillside roadway is in a landslide zone where crews began work Tuesday in an effort to stop the ground's movement.(Photo: Kevin Jenkins / The Spectrum & Daily News)

However, travels lanes are open in all directions and officials expected impacts to be minimal.

Stormy weather early in the week could bother early holiday travelers, but high temperatures mean more rain than snow and it should be clear skies after Tuesday across southern Utah, according to the National Weather Service.

But motorists heading to northern Utah could run into some trouble.

“The next weather disturbance will impact mainly the northern third of Utah Wednesday night and Thanksgiving morning,” according to a NWS alert. “Those with travel plans should continue to monitor forecasts. There may be some road impacts at least for the higher passes of northern Utah.”